Strategizing, communicating but sometimes force is needed and a forceful leader

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

After mental exercises and various forms of communication team building strategy does not move and is in doldrums.  Sometimes you need forcefulness and bringing in a new personality who exhibits force and things get done.

It reminds me of the definition by  Roger  Enrico  (former head of Pepsi who propelled Pepsi to the top did the ads with  Michael Jackson) of leadership  who said "  It is taking a point of view and experessing this FORCEFULLY.  "

Compete on other areas: other areas that cant be copied by competitors; be aspirational in a mass market

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

Surprising move for Target vs Walmart

                                                    Michael Graves collection

1999

Walmart crushes Target on prices.    They cant compete. They are declared dead   Bob the boss says they compete on other areas.  The boss wants Target to be an aspirational go to store.   

Michael Graves -   design products for Target;  good design for every one.   ($40.00 that looks like $400.00)   then other designer product lines.   Clothing lines.    Luxury line.  Made is aspirational

Today, Target sales is $100 b

How do wealthy protect their wealth through art and paintings

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

So painters get rich if they have painter

1.  The wealthy buys commission the painter

2.   The wealthy pays the painter say P40 m for somethign that could be ugly

3.   Then the wealthy puts the painting at warehouse (a freeport)

4     Then they put up the painting for auction.   

      The purpose is to up the price.   The price goes up to P80M

5.  Then the wealthy person donates the art piece to a museum.

      The museum accepts the donation which is tax free

It is a financial weapon disguised as philanthropy or culture.

The art tax yield/write off

7 Torah laws that propel Jewish wealth for 100 generations

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

Maybe we do not know know or even disdain business principles of the rich like the Chinese or Jews.  But they are so rich.    In US there may be just 2% of total US population but control 30% of the wealth  At Israel, these rich fund the wars vs their neighbors.

They must be doing a lot of great things that MBA and Ivy Leagues do not know or not teaching (When I was teaching MBA, this post asked students to make report on Business and the Bible,   Money is mentioned 300+ times in the Bible.  Surely God wants us all to succeed.

Here are 7 principles mentioned by the author:

1.  Guard your reputation

     Your networth is your reputation.     

     Your reputation is the funnel where cash flow comes in

     Employ honest weight and measurement.  Be honest and truthful

     Be like the Chinese and the Jews who seal the deal with handshake

     Their words are the hardrock foundation of any deal

     Find in your business gaps where you are not keeping your word and correct this ASAP

2.  Do not muzzle your ox

    Share your earnings, your wealth with those contribute to your wealth building.  Chinese and

    Jews practice this.

    We practiced this through incentives and profit sharing.  But succeeding generations are not 

     practice these.

Be square honest and transparent in your deals....build for the long term, not cornering a smart one time deal

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

Be honest and square in your deals.   Not always gaining the upper hand.  No insider trading secret deals.

Be transparent with your customers and suppliers/sellers.  

Build a reputation.  Be transparent  Not a one time deal that favors you.   Be the one to to go because you are fair honest and minds others interest too.  Not yours alone

Think of long term  10- 20 years and even about your own death.    What will people tell you about you as  businessman  20 years down the road and even eulogy at your death.   

This concerns about a ROW issue with one  of the big landowner who let us pass through their properties.   About 3 decades back.    My successors had issue with them and filed cases in the court regarding an alleged mischief and destruction of property by the grantors of the right of way.  I was a signatory to the grant of right of way.

The court called me to testify.  What do I do:  side with my siblings who now run the corporation,  or side with the truth.?   What was the grant of right of way all about?  Did we have exclusive right to the property or did the grantor have equal right to the right of way.

This post sided wth the truth because no one would like to do business with me anymore if I twisted the truth

Principle from Torah in business dealing - Genesis 14 - that you made people rich not the other way around

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

This was the principle that one of the Rotschild, Mayer employed in dealing with his customers as a finance expert.  He gave the best term to one of the  customers a prince:    lower interest rate, flexible repayment terms so that later on he was the go to person when finance was involved.    Lest it not be misunderstood that the customer made him rich, it was the other way around

This post thought that when he was in the finance business it was the goal of the company to make the customer prosperous, not bleed him/her dry.    But to make him grow rich and prosperous so that both of the businesses grow.    And any business.  We solve customers problems.  We make him gain, remove pain.   

You cant maximize.  You   have to make it fair.    If you make money, let others make money too.  It is their right and opportunity to profit from your ideas and the deal you are closing.     Being too greedy makes it hard and leaves a negative feeling at the other end.  Making money flow into the others coffers make it equally easy to let money flow freely end lessly into yours.

If the others are unhappy with the deal or sale, return the money.  Make amends.

If your goal is to gouge your customer you are nothing more than a thief or pirate or a govt tongpats.  Flood control expert...

Genesis:    14 - 18-20

¹⁸ And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High.
¹⁹ And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰ and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Wrong system will reward the wrong ones like decreasing customer retention

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

Customer retention is more profitable but the system rewarded speed vs Customer Service.     So the reward system has to be changed.  Employees can be blamed for the wrong behavior because the system rewarded this.   

Continuing business is the goal of every business.   So that has to be encouraged...

Rewarding customer service; overhauling the incentive system

Increasing the likehood of repeat business/visit at restaurant

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

The likehood of a customer getting back is less than 40% but the % can be increased.   

Market for more visit (3)

1.   First customer  -   free  special rib dinner with a card  (just $4 vs $1,200)

2.   2nd visit -   chicken dish

3.   3rd visit  -   free cheesecake  percentage is 70%+

How can we translate this into our business.?

Better than media marketing.   

Marketing restaurant for the 3rd visit

7 Great Books to read when making difficult decision

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

• Good to Great by Jim Collins

Disciplined thoughts, action (execution) confronting brutal facts. Placing the right person in place

One week executive can destroy executive

• The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

There are are urgent activities confronting executive. What truly matters now.?

Focus is needed. Asking what the situation needs

• The 77 Laws of Great Leaders by Phon Piseth

Management enters the architecture of power and authority. (what happens when people start looking

at the leader. Judged also on emotional weight of the authority. If they hesitate. Weakened by

wrong delivery. Authority is not merely exercise of power Can people move despite decision. People are sensitive to signals. Emotional architecture under pressure

Silence carries enermous authority. (Many words strike differently) Defending early too many words

weakens the executive

• Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

Execution follows meeting KISFREK Who now owns the decision

• Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Disasgreements : how do they affect decisions. Do you want comfort or clarity after disagreements

Talk about Abraham LIncoln on how he navigaged disagreeements

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

• The Outsiders by William Thorndike

Long horizon thinking, delayed decisions. Capex Quiet decisions not noisy decisions.

Live with strong leaders.

Fortunate to have read 3 of the 7 books in my life as a businessman

4 Important business principles from MIT Monk learned in 20 years

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

This can help numerous would be, entrep wannabees:

Most of what is being written is learn to avoid so that we 

Principle1: Avoiding Ghost Towns Principle 2: The Passion Dilemma

Principle3: Understanding Business DNA

Principle 4: Building High Walls

Principle1: Avoiding Ghost Towns

This challenge is the result of the University system. We live a real life of divergence but the University is convergence. Questions are preformed and no one dare question the question. Sometimes we solve problems no one needs. And there companies financed by VCs, 48% of them dont return money. So many put up restaurants in ghost town..

This is exemplefied by a wall to where we bike frequesntly built in the middle of nowhere and surely this is a failure. This often happens.

Principle 2: The Passion Dilemma

Follow your passion and you dont to have to work the rest of your life. So says Steve Jobs to follow passion but that does not necessarily work. Follow your effort

For passion its mostly about art. And there are numerous artists painters and actors. And since there are many the value of the talent goes down.

Principle3: Understanding Business DNA

The business DNA:

1 The product they physical goods. The cash trap You need plenty of cash. Supply chain in

investment

2 The software use massive amount of cash for the development. Ai helps this. Build the MVP

before taking massive investment. Convince yourself that you have buyers.

3. The service use of time and talent New product types and can run without you

4. Marketplace (trading ) Hyperfocus on one niche

5 Media you are selling attention. You have to keep on running. Build direct connections vs

having yourself on a platform

6. Capital DNA - renting money: banks, hedge funds. Trap: one bad investment. can wipe you

out

7. Asset DNA investing requires massive amount of cash.

Be sure you and your busienss DNA match. If the business is the right vehicle for you

Principle 4: Building High Walls the walls, the moats you need to build so that the competition cant get into you. The franchise

1. Economies of scale barrier. If you have large purchase

2. Network - every new user add value to existing network. Like VISA - plenty of merchants and

user Even if I introduce of new card (but zero user and merchant)

3. Dominate a niche rather than entire ecosystem.

The illusion of free

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

The illusion of the free.

What if you are renting hotel at $150.00  and the competitor drops to $120.00  and he plans to drop to $110.00  The consultant stops the hotel owner. and suggests:     $180 hotel room  with free meal.   worth $`100.00 (which cost only $25.00)

So you make:     $80.00  +   (100 - 25) 75  =   $155.00 much more than if you sell room at $150.00

So you keep your hotel full, and the restaurant full.  Additionally, the hotel occupants order desert or cocktail   and pay the $30.00 extra.  How many times you spend more on the free.    The free is a custom built ATM for you

See how they tempt you at casinos while riding buses with free $50.00 gambling credits and above the WD free dining and drinks 

Free meal with hotel

Oft repeated theme to sell and create value - scarcity

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

Tycoon apology

Being scarce creates demand; discount tells you are commodity and that you are desperate.

The moment you discount, the more you appear desperate.  Walk away and be scarce and unavailable.

Create a waiting list.

Scarcity creates value.   Being desperate does not.  

So the jeweller instead of 70% discount was advised to close the store and allowed sales by invitation only  Thats scarcity.  

Being scarce makes you valuable

Forceful and smart selling advise by Machiavelli

Forceful and smart selling advise by Machiavelli

The sales advice was probably adopted from the lines taught at Machiavellis Prince

There are 5 tactics:

The Illusion of Choice Technique (advanced closing strategy) ✔️ How to create scarcity and urgency in sales ✔️ The power of psychological triggers in marketing ✔️ Narrative control and authority positioning ✔️ The Strategic Retreat Method (reverse psychology in selling)

1. The illusion of choice

Control the choice. Do not give the customer unlimited choice

But actually the choice has been made. By employing the good

better strategy. Good is the more expensive and then presenting the

more affordable. It is often a used word: decision becomes inevitable

2. Creating scarcity:

Fear sells. It is better to be feared rather than loved

Either by telling shortage in inventory, or time frame. When there is risk or danger, a person rush to make decision We are adopting this in Temu marketing promos beginning March 16. Limited promo items, and campaigns running 4 weeks at most.

FOMO (fear of missing out)

3. Psychological triggers

Mask of authencity. Perceived authencity. Skill appears trustworth.

One who can give a good advice to build trust.

Appear to be one with them, but actually pushes own agenda

4. Narrative control of authority

Ask question vs defending. Stay on offense.

Appear to be the expert

5. Strategic withdrawal

Dont be desperate. Appear to be not needing tthe agent.

1. Now is not the best time

2. Maybe you need to have more research

Do you appear to be manipulative? But are you not selling everyday. ?

Machiavellis thought on selling

Sales Mindset from Nicolo Machiavelli that will differentiate you from 99% of other sales person

Most people fail in sales because they view it as a transaction of goods. In reality, sales is a transaction of power. To stay "nice" is to stay broke. The 1% understand that every interaction is a battle for the frame, and those who cannot control the perception of value are destined to be exploited by those who can. To dominate the market, you must stop being a petitioner and start being a sovereign. "Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times." — (Inspired by Niccolò Machiavelli, on the necessity of adaptability and the strategic manipulation of circumstances). In the hyper-saturated marketplace of 2026, traditional "customer service" isn't a strategy—it's a cloak for the weak. This video dismantles the soft, ineffective sales tropes of the past and replaces them with the cold, calculated principles of Machiavellian influence. This is your tactical guide to mastering the psychology of persuasion and seizing the lead in any industry. 👇 Inside You'll Discover: -The Machiavellian Frame: How to position yourself as the prize to be won, rather than the salesman begging for a moment of time.

-The Illusion of Choice: Master the art of "guiding" the prospect's will while making them believe the decision was entirely theirs.

-Strategic Boldness: Why the "Lion" approach secures high-ticket deals while the "Fox" approach navigates complex corporate bureaucracies.

-The Law of Scarcity & Power: Using the threat of your absence to trigger the primal fear of loss in your competition and clients.

-Emotional Detachment: Shifting from "needing the sale" to "commanding the outcome"—the ultimate psychological leverage.

-The Art of Pretense: How to project an aura of inevitable success that attracts resources, trust, and capital. ⚠️ The Brutal Truth: The market does not reward the "hardest worker"; it rewards the most strategic manipulator of value. If you are waiting for people to "fairly" recognize your worth, you have already lost. In sales, as in power, you do not get what you deserve—you get what you take.

Selling here results because it is the inevitable choice after you have framed the same. to be.

Dark secret it is manipulation.

1 You are the authority. You command respect. You project as if you

nor projecting power (but you act as if you are the authority

2 You do not appear desperate. At times you appear you appear as if

you are walking away from the deal

3. You even appear selective. You pre qualify in person if they would like

working with you.

4. In closing, do not appear as if you welcome the idea that its a yes or

no to the deal. You ask:

How do we proceed (but it boils to the idea that you have closed the deal. You all ready own it:

1. Proceed at once to roll out?

2. Or go on a 3 mos staggered period.

                 3.  Sign the paper work now and pay us after 30 days

Leave 99% of other sales people behind

Reflection on a negotiation that was left midstream because they were going to have a deal with a giant in the industry....

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

While I was in Region 1 attending to the challenges of our sbus a phone call came through from a daughter telling me that our aborted nego in October 2025 was coming back.   We upped our offer from P2M to P5M, then to 555M.   Until they walked out on us.  Because they were being offered cash by a well known memorial (now known to have scammed their way in the stock exchange by bloating their inventories 5 fold).

So presumably they did not have deal because now the said company could be having cash flow difficulties (and shamed they are facing penalties and call outs from SEC) and now they presume we have a continuance?

How could there be?  We were left, nothing was in writing, and there was no face to face meeting.   Some etiquette is order.   Not because we are not an MV company....we will just be left and then come back for continuance....

And they are demanding terms out of the continuance.

My stand is that silence is golden...  Less talk.  

Japanese companies moving to the Philippines; the future, the new factory base (away from China?)

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

That seems to be the trend.  We know Samsung is investing  $7 Billion in CPIP Calamba city, tired of uncertainity in China and India (that is P420 billion in local currency, 1/2 of what was looted by top officials)

We are going to host the future of manufacturing and prosperity.

Philppines moving forward inspite of corruption and ineptness of the top officials (and their scandals)

When stock market crash, there is opportunity for bargain hunting, vulture investing

Nation building via learning and being the best in business

Barista becoming millionaire from stock options and bargain hunting

The post tells about wealth creation by an employee from stock option for employees and invesitng during stock crash.

If the crash happens you, Buffett can exploit opportunity from this event. 

Crash is not a misfortune, it is opportunity for investor who want to harvest using buy low sell high